Residents of several villages along the East Coast were left devastated yesterday following the flooding caused by sudden and intense rainfall that started on Wednesday afternoon.
The rain started around 4PM on Wednesday and continued throughout the night until yesterday morning, flooding areas from the outskirts of the city all the way to Mahaica.
Although there was flooding in the various areas along the coast two weeks ago, the water level yesterday was higher and the floodwater was taking longer to recede. Stabroek News also visited the various pumps and sluices along the coast line and found that they were working. The new Hope Canal’s sluices were all opened as well.
Stabroek News yesterday visited the Better Hope, Vryheid’s Lust, Chateau Margot, Annandale, and Buxton communities.
Scores of Better Hope residents were forced to stay indoors and on high ground as their yards were flooded with water up to six inches in height. Vehicles couldn’t traverse the areas as it was difficult deciphering the difference between the road and the trenches.
“It happen in a flash. I went to bed around 11. I wake up back around 12 and as soon as I put me foot on the ground I surprise that I deh in the water. Like I didn’t even know what was going on,” a Chateau Margot resident said, while explaining that while he had expected a flood because of the constant rainfall, he did not expect the water to accumulate so high.
“It’s real bad and it ain’t going anywhere. Since last night it deh here and it ain’t moving,” Melissa Singh, of Better Hope, explained to Stabroek News yesterday. The bottom flat apartment of the two storey house where Singh lives was inundated by water reaching up to four inches in height. She said the water came gushing into the house after it had built up on the road. Singh said that while she didn’t lose much, she cannot shop for groceries from the shops as they are all flooded. “I understand is nah the government fault and is nah much they can do, but if they can at least lend some assistance with food supplies and such,” Singh further said.
Residents of Second Street, Vryheid’s Lust pointed out that only their area was badly flooded and blamed the low road and bad drainage for the excess water.
Dannyram Danraj, the owner of Molo’s grocery shop, was counting his losses that he estimated to be about $500,000 or more. “I wasn’t even at home at the time. I was at de cricket when I get a call that the house and shop was flooding,” Danraj told Stabroek News. He stated that the flood had destroyed sacks of flour, soap powder, and other items he had on the ground at the time. Danraj said that even though he noticed the pouring rain in the afternoon, he didn’t expect it to have such an impact on the area. The businessman said he was forced to hoist all of his furniture and electrical equipment onto higher grounds in a bid to keep them away from the damaging floodwater.
“You can’t blame anyone. Not the government, not the Lord,” Winston Valladares, a resident of the Buxton area, said as he dubbed the flood one of the worst he has experienced since 2005. About six inches of water covered the man’s yard, which had a garden that he had recently planted with vegetables, and the bottom flat of the house. He pointed out the slightly submerged couch and refrigerator that he was forced to hoist on top of a wooden pallet.
“I left around 6PM when the rain had just started falling and the ground was dry, dry. And when I come home around 11PM, I was so surprised to see all this water. It’s unbelievable that all this water appear with just this little rain,” Valladares’ wife told Stabroek News as the explained that since the rain had stopped around 6AM yesterday morning, it had only receded about 1 inch in six hours.
Valladares said that the only way the water can recede any faster is if additional pumps are placed get rid of the water.
Mark Abrams, a resident of Annandale, explained that he came home around 9PM and met his yard covered in six inches of water. The man explained that he has not experienced a flood of this sort since the 2005 Great Flood. He said that while there would be a minor buildup of water when there is heavy rainfall, his yard has never had such an amount of water before and it had never taken that long to recede.
While the Sheriff Street area is not usually subjected to flooding when it rains heavily, a local supermarket was seen using a small pump to get rid of the water that had covered its floor.
